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Pyre is a Game About a Game —But It's Really About Why We Play [Wired] “We pass through the gate leading up to the summit. When we reach the top, the liberation rite will begin. Prismatic light trickles down from on high as we climb and make our preparations. Set our uniforms just so. Put on the ritual masks. Stretch. This is magic, but it's something else, something much simpler: it's a sport. One last match, this one with huge stakes. This is the world of Pyre. The third game by beloved independent developer Supergiant Games (Bastion, Transistor), Pyre is about a magical tournament of sorts called the Rites. The competitors are all exiles, criminals cast out of the civilization of the Commonwealth into the wilds of a land known as the Downside; for the victors, the Rites are a ticket home from isolation, and back into society.” [more inside]
posted by Fizz at 10:40 PM PST - 16 comments

"Weird" Al Yankovic comes to Last Week Tonight With John Oliver to play the accordion to help communicate how the people of the USA actually feel about North Korea. For context on why the accordion, watch the full episode.
posted by hippybear at 8:36 PM PST - 23 comments

Stuart Jeffries, Foreign Policy: Verdirbt Richard David Precht die Deutsche Philosophie? - "Aber Precht lässt das kalt. Als einer der berühmtesten und gefragtesten Figuren einer neuen deutschen Philosophiewelle argumentiert er, dass die moderne Philosophie, um relevant zu bleiben, von ihrem Elfenbeinturm herunterkommen und mit der Masse in Kontakt treten muss." [more inside]
posted by the man of twists and turns at 8:09 PM PST - 5 comments

Why doesn't banana candy taste like banana? Watch banana candies being formed by hand using Victorian techniques and discover why banana candy typically does not taste like what you think a banana should taste like. Also explore the weirdness of the banana plant and the correct way to peel a banana. [more inside]
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 3:45 PM PST - 70 comments

Hvper is the new PopURLs. Thomas Marban, creator of Popurls has released Hvper, which is a "quick, non-personalised, anti-social and unfiltered news time sink". He explains here.
posted by soelo at 2:54 PM PST - 17 comments

Three hundred feet in the air, Mauli Dhan dangles on a bamboo rope ladder, surveying the section of granite he must climb to reach his goal: a pulsing mass of thousands of Himalayan giant honeybees. They carpet a crescent-shaped hive stretching almost six feet below a granite overhang. The bees are guarding gallons of a sticky, reddish fluid known as mad honey, which, thanks to its hallucinogenic properties, sells on Asian black markets for $60 to $80 a pound—roughly six times the price of regular Nepali honey.

posted by Johnny Wallflower at 2:34 PM PST - 32 comments

On a muggy day in July, in a Long Island backyard, a group of musicians had gathered for rehearsal. As their conductor gently raised both hands, they steadied their instruments, and played the first notes of a Bach chorale, “Nun freut euch, Gottes Kinder all.” (SLNYT)
posted by strelitzia at 2:17 PM PST - 5 comments

Twelve years ago, SB Nation began as a do-it-yourself venture, by and for fans, more a community of communities than a journalistic endeavor. It has since evolved and rebranded itself and emerged as Vox Media, which was valued at $1 billion in 2015 after a $200 million round of funding from NBCUniversal. The SB Nation network itself, consisting of 319 team websites, has remained in place, a vast operation read by millions of people every month and powered by unpaid and underpaid labor.
posted by crazy with stars at 12:26 PM PST - 32 comments

The first teaser trailer for Noah Baumbach's new movie, The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) has just been released prior to its appearance at the New York Film Festival in late September. [more inside]
posted by gusottertrout at 11:55 AM PST - 28 comments

Here's What Coney Island Looks Like In The Empty Pre-Dawn Hours [more inside]
posted by poffin boffin at 11:51 AM PST - 14 comments

In July 2016, Smith, who identifies as black, gay and deaf, presented to a doctor seeking pre-exposure prophylaxis. Despite his knowledge of PrEP, the HIV infections rates in the black queer community and his willingness to take the drug, one thing stood in his way: a hearing doctor. The doctor told Smith that Deaf people should not be having sex. Journalist Matthew Rodriquez (twitter) writes about the unspoken HIV crisis in the deaf community for Into, the online lifestyle magazine from Grindr (yes, that Grindr - note: not a link to Grindr)
posted by MCMikeNamara at 11:43 AM PST - 17 comments

Miles of tunnels in South America were excavated by enormous giant sloths. At least, scientists think they were dug by giant sloths. But they're not entirely sure. The giant armadillo, the largest living member of the family, weighs between 65 and 90 pounds and is found throughout much of South America. Its burrows are only about 16 inches in diameter and up to about 20 feet long. “So if a 90-pound animal living today digs a 16-inch by 20-foot borrow, what would dig one five feet wide and 250 feet long?” asks Frank. “There’s no explanation – not predators, not climate, not humidity. I really don’t know.”
posted by suelac at 11:42 AM PST - 34 comments

Nick Zentner, of Central Washington University, lectures entertainingly on the rather exciting geology of the Pacific Northwest in the US. Great Earthquakes of the Pacific Northwest discusses the infamous "everything west of I-5 is toast" New Yorker article. Flood Basalts of the Pacific Northwest explains how the Yellowstone hot spot came to dominate the landscape of the Northwest. Ice Age Floods, Lake Missoula, Bonneville Flood and the Columbia River Basalts describes the catastrophic ice age floods that roared down the Columbia river gorge.
posted by Bee'sWing at 11:35 AM PST - 19 comments

Moonshadow was a ground-breaking graphic novel of exceptional beauty, a "fairy tale for grownups," beloved by Ray Bradbury and Kurt Vonnegut. [more inside]
posted by storybored at 11:06 AM PST - 18 comments

The New York Times has a lovely feature looking at 8 short things, very closely. A 90 second scene from Freaks and Geeks that "takes you from melancholy to sheer delight." A pizza being made. An Eddie Murphy joke. An amazing adaptation of the Swan in dance. The erection of a building on the High Line. The 2-second bleat of Law and Order. A lyric from Lil Uzi Vert. A shoe painted by Manet.
posted by blahblahblah at 11:02 AM PST - 8 comments

Wolf Alice: Brilliant indie rock, stretching from folk to punk. Watch Yuck Fou and Don't Delete the Kisses, from their upcoming sophmore album 'Visions of a Life', and one of their first songs Fluffy. [more inside]
posted by signal at 7:01 AM PST - 28 comments

"In the last two years, three Saudi princes living in Europe have disappeared. All were critical of the Saudi government - and there is evidence that all were abducted and flown back to Saudi Arabia… where nothing further has been heard from them." [more inside]
posted by sour cream at 7:00 AM PST - 22 comments

Engine Stop Motion Teardown (2m50s; h/t)
posted by Gyan at 5:45 AM PST - 14 comments

THERE IS A NEW STRONG BAD EMAIL
posted by DoctorFedora at 5:09 AM PST - 32 comments

Cam-girls: Inside the Romanian sexcam industry - a BBC News magazine article by Linda Pressly (also available as a podcast) featuring some photographs by Lorenzo Maccotta.
posted by misteraitch at 4:36 AM PST - 12 comments